Double strollers, prams, and carriages (hereinafter referred to as “double strollers”) for the transportation of multiple infants and/or small children are readily available. Various assemblies and designs have been developed for reversibly connecting two single strollers to produce a convertible double stroller. As used herein, “reversibly connect” or “reversibly attach” means the connection is not a permanent connection and that the connection is capable being of connected, disconnected, and reconnected by the user of the stroller without requiring special tools or special skills. Releasable connections include, but are not limited to, hooks, buttons, snaps, friction fittings, interference fits, threaded connections, locking tabs, keyed connections, pins and recesses, other hand operated fasteners, or the like.
Convertible double strollers may comprise connectors that may be used to reversibly connect two single strollers in train configuration or a side-by-side configuration. As used herein, a “train configuration” of a double stroller is a double stroller with the two stroller seats aligned as train cars are connected, wherein one seat follows behind the other in the direction of travel and a “side-by-side” configuration of a double stroller is a double stroller wherein the seats are next to each other and follow a parallel paths in the direction of travel. Typically, the location of the handle will indicate the direction of travel of the stroller as stroller handles are meant to be pushed from behind. Though other stroller designs are possible such as strollers with pull handles or connections to pull behind a bicycle.
Convertible double strollers allow the convenience of providing a choice of using the strollers as a double stroller only if desired and increasing the ease and safeness of maneuverability when transporting two small children. However, the conventional convertible double strollers are too wide in the side-by-side configuration and too long in the train configuration to be convenient.
There is a need for a convertible double stroller that may be connected in a train configuration such that the overall length of the double stroller is less than the length of a conventional convertible stroller in the train configuration. There is also a need for a convertible double stroller that may be connected in a side-by-side configuration such that the overall width of the double stroller is less than the width of a conventional convertible stroller in the side-by-side configuration.